Energy expenditure in preterm infants during periods of environmental stress in the neonatal intensive care unit

AimTo explore the energy expenditure (EE) in a group of preterm infants during the periods of environmental stress, and to explore the relationship between EE and physiological stress signals of preterm infants. MethodsResearch design was an explorative secondary analysis of 4164 research data from 37 preterm infants which included physiological signals and environmental stressors in neonatal intensive care units. The current study investigated the data of EE calculated using heart-rate-based EE estimate. ResultsA significantly positive relationship between EE and different levels of nursing intervention was found (P<0.005). In addition, there was a significantly negative relationship between EE and oxygen saturation (P<0.001). ConclusionThese research results confirmed that environmental stressors may impact the growth and developmental outcomes in preterm infants by increasing their EE. Neonatal clinicians should minimize excessive stimulations in order to conserve energy for the growth and developmental needs of preterm infants. Research found a significant relationship between an increase in EE and a decrease in oxygen saturation in preterm infants. The authors further hypothesized that EE of preterm infants may be predicted by estimating the oxygen saturation. Further study using different research methods and an enlarged sample size is needed.